Thursday, September 20, 2012

Elizabeth St Hilaire Nelson and yours truly at the MVP Metro Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in front of part of our ArtPrize 2012 installation.

Elizabeth flew in (from FL) on Monday, and the Santini's welcomed her with a great honking of snotty noses and a generous sized bottle of antibacterial hand wash.

There was literally no turning back!!

Tuesday morning (yesterday) she and I headed to Grand Rapids (that is, after running a lunch to the busstop at the nth hour and delivering a forgotten flute to a school office). It was time to hang our ArtPrize works.

And hang them we did, filling the lobby of the MVP Metro Club with color and life. You can see a complete photo montage on the studio Facebook page, including a link to Elizabeth's photo album.

If you find yourself hitting ArtPrize, please stop by and allow yourself to be wowed by our work (and the work of the other 1,698 artists participating).

Huge thanks are due to those Painting a Dog a Day fans who eagerly nominated their pets for my "Cherished" paintings - while I couldn't take each of the pieces with me to the show, I had (and will continue to have) a great time creating and sharing them with you all.

Fondly,

Kim, who is feeling pampered - tonite, Elizabeth is cooking Morrocan Chicken and Fruited Barley and a cake that is a secret family recipe. I could get used to this.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since the first of August! It’s been a pretty busy Summer and now with the kids back in school, and Summer Family fun has come to an end, it’s time to get back to the grind stone of having fun in the Studio! Yeah, right…grind stone, ha ha…So love my job!

Pictured above is a brand new Watercolor, just completed a few days ago. Safe in the sage, 15 x 19 inches, Watercolor on 300lb Arches Watercolor Paper.

This cute pair are pure blooded Spanish Mustangs living in New Mexico. If you have been following my expeditions and goings on, then you know I took a trip out to Northern New Mexico this Summer for a Gallery Opening. While there, I scheduled a day to photograph the Wild Spanish Mustangs of Monero Mustang Sanctuary.

This is the first large watercolor I have created of the Mustangs. This Mare is Wera (meaning Blonde) and her Filly is Serena. I here from the Ranch that they are doing fine, but they do need a sponsor. If you would like to sponsor these two, or any other of the wild Mustangs that roam free there, follow the link above to the Sanctuary’s Website.

I will be offering 15 x 19 Limited Edition Prints of 50 of Safe in the sage. Printed on velvet watercolor paper and proofed, hand signed and numbered by me (Deborah Flood). A percentage of each print sale will be donated to the Mustang Sanctuary in New Mexico. Prints will be $100.00 USD plus shipping. Contact me at debflood@debfloodart.com to pre-order your LE Print.

My "Cherish" series will compliment her "Noah's Ark" pieces, along with a pairing of koi and bunnies that we created in our own style specifically for ArtPrize. (Pictured above is my "Flopsy Bunny," a 9" x 12" portrait on panel, which will be joined in Grand Rapids by Elizabeth's "Flopsy.")

There will be over 1500 artists showing their work within a 3 square mile area of Grand Rapids. In addition to juried prizes, the viewing public will choose award winners via texted votes, a la American Idol style. It promises to be exciting and inspiring for both artists and visitors.

For more information, visit the ArtPrize website. And stay tuned to my newsletters and blog for details specific to our installation.

Fondly,

Kim, who is trying to dot all the "i"s and cross all the "t"s related to ArtPrize without losing - or at least misplacing - her head

My idea was simple: I wanted to paint the bond we share with our pets. Not just their likenesses, which I did already pretty much every day as part of my regular portraiture. No, this time I wanted paintings that transcended mere likenesses and became something else - a moment in time or a particular shared emotion - that was universal.

While the initial idea was to create these paintings specifically for ArtPrize, along the way I discovered far more muses and content than I had time to adequately explore. So yes, the series will continue. And yes, you can still submit your companion animal more info on that is here).

You can view my muses here - be sure to page through the photos, because the captions on those whom I've already painted will contain links to their portraits.

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